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  • Harvick Backs Up Practice Talk And Wins Third Sprint Unlimited Title

    Harvick Backs Up Practice Talk And Wins Third Sprint Unlimited Title

    Photo Credit: David Yeazell
    Photo Credit: David Yeazell

    Kevin Harvick ran two very impressive practice sessions in preparation for the Sprint Unlimited this evening. He was the fastest in the first session and backed up that speed with a fourth quickest time in the final practice for the race to put his average at 2.5 for the weekend. Greg Biffle was third quickest in both practice sessions to put his average right on the dot at third. 0.5 was exactly how close Harvick was to wrecking on the final lap of the Sprint Unlimited.

    Harvick blocked a charging Greg Biffle in the waning seconds of the Sprint Unlimited heading into turn-3 and it was Harvick who held off Biffle for his third Sprint Unlimited victory, tying him with Tony Stewart and 3-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett. Only one more driver has more Unlimited wins and that is the late Dale Earnhardt, who had six.

    Joey Logano came in third place followed by Stewart, and Matt Kenseth. Kenseth seemed to have the most dominant car of the night, but got shuffled back late and couldn’t make it back up to the front to challenge Harvick.

    That wasn’t the only wreck avoided tonight for Harvick. On Lap 15, it was an actual wreck. Tony Stewart saw a chance on Lap 15 to dive to the inside to take the lead position away from Matt Kenseth, but came right across the nose of the No.9 of Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose ended up okay, but a chain reaction crash behind them began to progress. Drivers let off the gas ever so slightly as if they were afraid Ambrose or Stewart would come back up the race track. Denny Hamlin plowed into the side of Jimmie Johnson. He spun around and collected his teammate Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, and Kurt Busch. Martin Truex Jr. received some cosmetic damage, but he was able to continue.

    Tony Stewart will not be a very popular guy after the race. He also later made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.’s damage disrupted the aerodynamic flow in his race car and could really never get back up to help Kasey Kahne.

    Stewart won the first segment of the race, while Kevin Harvick led the final two to take home the win.

  • Lap by Lap: Sprint Unlimited won by Kevin Harvick

    Lap by Lap: Sprint Unlimited won by Kevin Harvick

    Photo Credit: David Yeazell
    Photo Credit: David Yeazell

    With a thrilling block on the last lap, Kevin Harvick would take the victory in the Sprint Unlimited as he heads into his final season with Richard Childress Racing.

     

    Lap 1 Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle side-by-side for the lead. Biffle gets the shot and leads ahead of Kahne and Hamlin.

    Lap 2 Biffle leads Kahne Hamlin Truex Gordon Almirola. Truex trying to make a run on the outside with help from Almirola.

    Lap 3 Truex passes Biffle for the lead

    Lap 4 Truex leads Almirola Ambrose Biffle Kenseth. Terry Labonte to pit road.

    Lap 5 Truex leads as Almirola and Ambrose run side-by-side for second. Tuex leads Kenseth Ambrose Earnhardt Jr Biffle……Kenseth to the lead as the field splits through turn two. Almirola back to 17th

    Lap 6 Kenseth leads Ambrose Biffle Truex Hamlin

    Lap 7 Kenseth leads Ambrose Biffle Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin…..Edwards and Kahne pass Hamlin for fifth.

    Lap 8 Top three single file while Earnhardt Jr. and Edwards are side-by-side for fourth

    Lap 14 Kenseth leads Ambrose Biffle Stewart Kurt Busch

    Caution lap 15 Stewart gets sideways trying to get under Kenseth, everybody reacts behind – Hamlin gets into Johnson and the wreck is on. Collected include Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch. Stewart takes full apology for incident on radio.

    Restart lap 20 Kenseth leads Stewart and Biffle

    Lap 23 Biffle takes the lead for a moment, before Kenseth goes back by with help from Harvick

    Lap 26 Kenseth leads Harvick Truex Stewart Kahne Edwards

    Lap 28 Kenseth leads Harvick Stewart Edwards Truex

    Lap 29 Stewart passes Harvick for second

    Lap 30 Stewart passes Kenseth for the lead with help from Harvick.

    Stewart leads segment 1 ahead of Kenseth Harvick

     

    Restart – Stewart and Harvick start side-by-side……Stewart leads Kahne while Kenseth and Harvick side-by-side for third

    Lap 32 Stewart Kahne Harvick Kenseth Truex……Kenseth by Harvick for third…….Stewart lead as Kahne and Harvick side-by-side for second.

    Lap 34 Stewart Harvick Kahne Kenseth Biffle……Harvick by Stewart with help from Biffle

    Lap 35 Harvick leads as Biffle and Stewart run side-by-side for second……Harvick Biffle Logano Earnhardt Jr. Stewart

    Lap 41 Harvick leads Biffle Stewart Truex Logano…..Harvick leads as Biffle and Stewart side-by-side for second

    Lap 42 Harvick and Stewart side-by-side for the lead

    Lap 43 Stewart leads Harvick Truex Biffle Kenseth

    Lap 50 Harvick leads Biffle Logano Ambrose Truex

    Lap 53 Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. make contact…Earnhardt Jr. drops back to rear with possible issue.

    Lap 55 Harvick Biffle Logano Truex Kenseth Ambrose – ends of segment

     

    Start of Segment 3: 29-16-22-14-56-20-9-5-42-43-99-88

    Restart lap 56 Harvick with the edge due to help from Stewart, Kenseth third, Biffle fourth…….Kenseth by Stewart for second……Kenseth beside Stewart for first

    Lap 56 Harvick leads as Kenseth and Stewart run side-by-side for second…….

    Lap 57 Harvick Stewart KEnseth Logano Kahne……Harvick and Kenseth side-by-side for the lead

    Lap 59 Harvick leads as Kenseth and Stewart side-by-side for second at line

    Lap 60 Harvick Kenseth Stewart Logano Kahne

    Lap 61 Harvick Stewart single-file at the front while Kenseth side-by-side with Logano

    Lap 62 Kenseth to the front of the field

    Lap 63 Harvick back to the lead ahead of Stewart Logano Kenseth Biffle

    Lap 64 Harvick Stewart Kenseth Biffle Truex

    Lap 65 Harvick Stewart single-file while Almirola and Kenseth are side-by-side for third

    10 laps to go .. Harvick Stewart Biffle Kenseth Almirola Truex Edwards Kahne DaleJr Logano Montoya Ambrose.

    Lap 66 Kenseth slides back to seventh so its Harvick Stewart Biffle Almirola Edwards Logano Kenseth

    Lap 69 Harvick leads Stewart Biffle Almirola Edwards Logano and Kahne single-file

    6 to go Harvick leads Stewart Biffle Almirola Edwards Logano and Kahne ….Kenseth Truex Earnhardt Jr single-file

    5 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Truex

    3 to go Kenseth makes a move, trying to pass Kahne……Kahne, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr. and Truex losing the draft.

    2 to go Harvick, Stewart, Biffle, Almirola, Edwards and Logano make up the lead draft…..blackflag No. 99 for rightside window

    White flag Logano to the bottom, beginning to pass Almirola and Edwards…….Logano and Kenseth begin to make a move, Stewart blocks, Harvick blocks…..Harvick goes up and blocks Biffle.

    Kevin Harvick wins the Sprint Unlimited. Greg Biffle. Joey Logano. Tony Stewart. Matt Kenseth. Aric Almirola. Kasey Kahne. Carl Edwards. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Martin Truex Jr.

  • Gordon wins season finale; Keselowski wins 2012 NSCS championship

    Gordon wins season finale; Keselowski wins 2012 NSCS championship

    After a controversial race last week at Phoenix, Jeff Gordon stretched his fuel mileage and won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    “Oh my gosh, it means so much. This is for DUPONT right here. 20 years. That is a long time to be together with a sponsor. For them to commemorate that with this awesome paint scheme, this silver car means so much. I knew we had a great race car going into the race.” Gordon said.

    Gordon crossed the finish line 1.028 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer for his second win of the season.

    “Can you believe that? There was one restart where I had Joey (Logano) and maybe Aric (Almirola) and Clint right there surrounding me. That thing is going to work itself out some way through racing. I felt terrible how I went about it, and I still regret the way I went about it. But, I can’t take it back. But what we can do is look forward and race guys as hard and clean as we possibly can.” Gordon said.

    Ryan Newman finished third, Kyle Busch fourth and Greg Biffle finished fifth.

    The day, the battle, was between 5-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and the new contender, Brad Keselowski.

    Johnson was leading the race and the championship until lap 213 during a schedules green flag pit stop. The pit crew left off a rear lug nut and Johnson had to come back in to pit again. Johnson lost a lap and the title started fading at that point. Then on lap 226 Johnson slowed and went to the pits for repairs……the championship was over for Johnson and the No.48 team.

    “Pretty heartbreaking. We were doing what we needed to do, certainly in a position to put a lot of pressure on the 2 car. But that’s racing.” Johnson said.

    Keselowski finished 15th, but more importantly, he finished first in the standings, 39 points ahead oh Johnson. This championship marks the first-ever Sprint Cup Series title for legendary car owner Roger Penske.

    After exiting his car, Keselowski summed his life long story up.

    “I saw this really cool video that Ray Lewis did and he said, ‘Throughout my whole life I’ve been told that I’m not big enough, I’m not fast enough, I’m not strong enough and I don’t have what it takes.’” Keselowski said.

    “I’ve used that as a chip on my shoulder that’s carried me through my whole career. It took ’til this year for me to realize, they’re right. I’m not big enough, fast enough, strong enough. No person is. Only a team can do that. And these guys up here, they make me big enough, fast enough, strong enough to do anything we want to do.” Keselowski added.

    Unofficial top-12 standings after Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

    Pos +/- Driver Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top5 Top10
    1 — Brad Keselowski 2400 0 36 0 5 13 23
    2 2 Clint Bowyer 2361 -39 36 0 3 10 23
    3 -1 Jimmie Johnson 2360 -40 36 4 5 18 24
    4 -1 Kasey Kahne 2345 -55 36 4 2 12 19
    5 2 Greg Biffle 2332 -68 36 3 2 12 21
    6 -1 Denny Hamlin 2329 -71 36 3 5 14 17
    7 -1 Matt Kenseth 2324 -76 36 1 3 13 19
    8 — Kevin Harvick 2321 -79 36 0 1 5 14
    9 — Tony Stewart 2311 -89 36 1 3 12 16
    10 1 Jeff Gordon 2303 -97 36 2 2 11 18
    11 -1 Martin Truex Jr. 2299 -101 36 1 0 7 19
    12 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2245 -155 34 1 1 10 20
    Unofficial Race Results
    Ford EcoBoost 400, Homestead-Miami
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 15 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 47
    2 6 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 42
    3 19 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 42
    4 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 42
    5 13 16 Greg Biffle Ford 39
    6 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 39
    7 5 43 Aric Almirola Ford 37
    8 23 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 36
    9 26 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 35
    10 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 34
    11 18 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 33
    12 4 99 Carl Edwards Ford 32
    13 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 32
    14 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 30
    15 3 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 29
    16 9 55 Mark Martin Toyota 28
    17 35 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 27
    18 11 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 27
    19 33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 25
    20 14 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 24
    21 12 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 24
    22 17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    23 20 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    24 41 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 20
    25 32 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 19
    26 38 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 18
    27 30 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 17
    28 21 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 16
    29 28 13 Casey Mears Ford 15
    30 24 51 Regan Smith Chevrolet 14
    31 34 34 David Ragan Ford 13
    32 31 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 12
    33 40 38 David Gilliland Ford 11
    34 37 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 10
    35 39 37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 9
    36 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 9
    37 42 32 Ken Schrader Ford 7
    38 22 30 David Stremme Toyota 6
    39 27 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 0
    40 36 26 Josh Wise * Ford 4
    41 25 98 Michael McDowell Ford 3
    42 43 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 2
    43 29 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
  • Smith wins NNS at EcoBoost 300 Homestead; Stenhouse Jr. wins the 2012 championship

    Smith wins NNS at EcoBoost 300 Homestead; Stenhouse Jr. wins the 2012 championship

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”207″][/media-credit]Regan Smith won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his first win in 2012 and the first win for JR Motorsports since 2010.

    Kyle Busch finished second, Brendan Gaughan third, Sam Hornish Jr fourth and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-5.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the 2012 Nationwide Championship for the second season in a row.  Stenhouse Jr. won by 23 points over Elliott Sadler and Dillon by 24.

    “It’s been fun. I’ve got to say hi to my granddad at home. He’s not doing as well as he needs to be, so I want to say ‘hey’ to him and we’ll see him soon. But I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to everybody else as well.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

    Busch started from the pole position and led the field three times for a race-high 89 laps.  This was Busch’s 26th pole in 244 NNS races. He is fourth on the all-time series poles but winless in 2012.

    “Just couldn’t get to the front and couldn’t pass Regan (Smith). I don’t know that I’ve lost so many different ways in a season, but this is that year.” Busch said.

    Busch led the first lap by a couple car lengths over Sadler. Sadler never gave up but was struggling with his car telling his crew chief “I’ve got no front grip.” That didn’t really effect him as he took the lead for only a corner which then Busch made the slide-job perfectly. While all of this was happening, championship leader Stenhouse Jr. was sneaking up on them to also challenge for the lead. After Busch cleared Sadler, He pulled away to a 1.517 lead on lap 18.

    By lap 40,  Busch was on fire! He had over a 8 second lead over Sadler and Stenhouse Jr. He also lapped up to 23rd position.

    Green flag pit stops occurred on lap 49 with Smith being the first one to make the ride to pit road. Smith, who is getting pitted by Dale Jr’s No.88 crew, said he was little tight but was getting better. He got a slight air pressure along with four tires and all the important fuel and was away. Busch, the leader, went down pit lane saying it was very good but just a tic free. He got a wedge adjustment along with four tires and fuel and was away. The two championship contenders came in together with Sadler stopping first. He said he want a little help but was getting better. He got that along with the usual and was away. Stenhouse was complaining that he was lacking grip overall. They went down on the track bar along with some fresh Goodyears and was away.

    The first caution waved on lap 65 with the No.20 of Ryan Truex spinning off of turn 4 and slamming the wall. All of the leaders came in to pit. Smith said he was much better but could not get in the throttle coming in off the corner. Stenhouse Jr. said he was much more free this run so they dropped the track bar down two rounds and no tires and came out first. Busch got four tires and came out second. Sadler did not pit and will lead the field back to the green flag.

    They restart on lap 70 with Busch going three wide to take the lead back from Sadler. Smith took Ryan Blaney for 4th and then took Stenhouse Jr. for 3rd.

    Caution came out on lap 72 when the No.23 of Robert Richardson Jr lost it in turn 4 and almost collected Jason Bowles and Joey Coulter. They all saved it.  Nobody came in for pit stops due to coming in just 2-3 laps ago.

    They restarted on lap 72 with Busch being the leader. He cleared Sadler easily into turns one and two with three wide racing behind them. Busch increased his lead to 1.277 lead after Smith passed Sadler for second.

    Right after Smith passed Busch for the lead, the caution came out for Richardson Jr spinning for the second time. Everyone came in except for Danica Patrick who took tires the previous stop. Stenhouse and Sadler both took four tires and fuel but Sadler did not put all of the lug nuts on the tires which will result in a penalty. Smith, Sam Hornish Jr. and others just came in for fuel only. Sadler will restart from 19th.

    Patrick restarted from the lead but did not last long as Busch and Hornish Jr took her three wide and she was down to five by the backstretch. Hornish Jr. took over the lead but with 95 laps to go Austin Dillon reeled him in and took over the spot. Dillon, who is still mathematically eligible for the championship, also got tires during that stop which is why he is rolling. Smith then took the second spot from Hornish Jr. Hornish Jr. was going backwards as he got passed for third from the championship leader, Stenhouse Jr.

    Green flag pit stops started to occur with 54 laps to go with Smith starting then. Steve Latarte, Smith Crew Chief, said he wanted a track bar but then called it off saying he would make Smith’s car to tight. They put four tires on with fuel and was away. Smith was wanting some new tires as he has had 78 laps with the ones he has had on. Busch came in after saying he wanted to snug it up some more. He told his Crew Chief that this was not the car they had at the beginning. Sadler was in saying his main problem was not having enough right rear lateral grip. He got four tires with a air pressure adjustment and some fuel and was gone. Dillon came in and was very happy with his car. He wanted no changes, just four tires and fuel.

    Stenhouse Jr. stayed out and led a lap and then came in. Stenhouse Jr. was not happy at all telling Mike Kelley, his Crew Chief, this has been the worst the car has been. They made a wedge adjustment along with some tires and fuel and off he went. Kevin Swindell and Kenny Wallace stayed out to lead a lap and then came in for the pit stops.

    After 78 laps of green flag racing, the caution came out for debris in turn 1. All of the leaders came in for the last stop which could define the championship. Sadler came in, telling his crew that this was a break since he would be five laps short, told his team he was lacking right rear grip. They dropped the track bar down and got only one can of fuel. Stenhouse Jr. was terrible and that he wanted triple the adjustment from last time. He got three rounds down in the right rear. Dillon was to tight on the gas and got a air pressure adjustment and was off first. Kevin Swindell did not pit so he will lead the field back to the green.

    Green flag waved with 22 laps to go. Swindell lead them to the green but easily got passed into turn 1 as they went four wide to pass him. Smith took over the lead as Sadler was screaming at crew shouting” THIS CAR IS JUNK! WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO?!?!”  While he was saying this the caution came out for the 70 of Johanna Long who got turned by Joey Logano and slammed the inside wall on the back stretch.

    Smith led the field back to green with 15 laps to go. Smith and Sadler were clear as the the top-10 were going two and three wide to gain positions. As they were going side by side looking like they were about to wreck, Stenhouse Jr’s spotter was yelling at him to settle back and not to race them. He lifted a little bit but he got the championship!

    This is the first time in Roush Fenway history that a driver has won back-to-back championships.

    “Thank you. It is unbelievable. These guys have put a lot of hard work into it. From the engine shop to the body shop and chassis shop these guys that go on the road and their families. There are a lot of people that have put a lot of effort into this. I am just the lucky guy that gets to drive it” Stenhouse said.

    “Ricky Stenhouse has won our first back-to-back championship for a driver in a series. We had back-to-back Cup championships in 2003 and 2004 but with different drivers. He did a great job and he has made a great champion and is going to make a great Cup driver next year.” Jack Roush said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Ford EcoBoost 300, Homestead-Miami
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=33
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 10 5 Regan Smith Chevrolet 0
    2 1 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    3 16 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    4 11 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 41
    5 3 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 40
    6 4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 39
    7 7 11 Brian Scott Toyota 37
    8 20 22 Ryan Blaney Dodge 36
    9 2 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 36
    10 8 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 34
    11 6 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 33
    12 32 43 Michael Annett Ford 32
    13 14 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 32
    14 15 21 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 0
    15 17 199 Kenny Wallace Toyota 30
    16 5 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    17 18 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 27
    18 25 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 26
    19 24 10 Mike Bliss Toyota 25
    20 13 8 Scott Lagasse Jr. Chevrolet 0
    21 22 198 Kevin Swindell Ford 24
    22 23 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 22
    23 31 108 Jeffrey Earnhardt Ford 21
    24 28 124 David Starr Toyota 0
    25 19 30 Dakoda Armstrong Chevrolet 0
    26 34 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 18
    27 30 14 Eric McClure Toyota 17
    28 21 27 Andrew Ranger Ford 16
    29 35 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 15
    30 26 19 Hal Martin Toyota 0
    31 41 4 Danny Efland Chevrolet 13
    32 33 52 Joey Gase * Chevrolet 12
    33 40 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 11
    34 36 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 10
    35 37 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 9
    36 27 44 John Blankenship Chevrolet 0
    37 38 41 Juan Carlos Blum Chevrolet 7
    38 12 20 Ryan Truex Toyota 6
    39 9 100 Blake Koch Toyota 5
    40 42 191 Jeff Green Toyota 4
    41 29 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 3
    42 43 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    43 39 39 Dexter Stacey Ford 1
  • Lap by Lap: Ford Ecoboost 300 won by Regan Smith; Stenhouse Jr. crowned champion

    Lap by Lap: Ford Ecoboost 300 won by Regan Smith; Stenhouse Jr. crowned champion

    After grabbing the lead with 15 laps to go, Regan Smith would win the Ford Ecoboost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his first ever Nationwide Series victory. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would finish sixth to win the driver’s championship for the second straight season. Joe Gibbs Racing would win the owner’s championship with the No. 18 car for the fourth time in five years.

     

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clinches the championship by finishing 16th or better. Kyle Busch starts on pole, followed by Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon and Stenhouse Jr.

    Green flag

    Kyle Busch grabs the early lead through turns one and two as Stenhouse and Dillon are side-by-side for second. Sadler clears Dillon for second going into turn four. Stenhouse fourth

    Lap 2 Busch leads Sadler, Dillon, Stenhouse, Allgaier, Scott, Whitt, Smith, Logano and Hornish Jr.

    Lap 3 Hornish Jr. passes Logano for ninth; Stenhouse passes Dillon for third

    Lap 6 Whitt and Smith side-by-side for seventh

    Lap 8 Busch and Sadler side-by-side for the lead

    Lap 11 Sadler falls back behind Busch as Stenhouse begins to close on them

    Lap 17 Busch leads Sadler, Stenhouse Jr., Dillon, Allgaier, Scott, Smith, Hornish Jr., Whitt and Logano

    Lap 22 Hornish Jr. passes Scott and Smith; Logano passes Whitt

    Lap 23 Busch leads Sadler, Stenhouse, Dillon, Allgaier, Smith, Hornish Jr., Scott, Logano and Whitt

    Lap 24 Smith passes Allgaier for fifth

    Lap 32 Busch leads Sadler, Stenhouse, Smith, Dillon, Hornish, Allgaier, Scott, Logano and Whitt

    Lap 36 Blaney passes Whitt for 10th

    Lap 39 Gaughan passes Blaney for 10th

    Lap 46 Busch leads Sadler, Smith, Stenhouse, Hornish Jr., Dillon, Scott, Logano, Allgaier and Gaughan

    Lap 48 Patrick pits.

    Lap 49 Smith pits so its Busch leading Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish Jr……..Allgaier and Busch pit. Sadler to the lead.

    Lap 50 Dillon, Hornish, Stenhouse and Sadler pit, handing the lead to Logano.

    Lap 51 Logano pits, handing the lead to Whitt. Whitt pits, handing the lead back to Busch to complete the cycle

    Lap 53 Busch leads Smith, Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish, Scott, Gaughan, Dillon, Allgaier and Logano. 17 cars on the lead lap.

    Lap 62 Busch leads Smith, Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish, Scott, Dillon, Gaughan, Allgaier and Blaney

    Caution lap 66 Ryan Truex wrecks off of turn four while running 13th. Truex got into the wall and then over corrected, causing more contact…..leaders pit under caution. Some teams take fuel only, some take tires. Stenhouse wins race off pit road ahead of Busch, Dillon, Blaney, Smith, Logano, Patrick, Scott, Hornish Jr. and Gaughan.

    Restart Lap 70 – Busch goes three-wide and grabs the lead

    Caution lap 72 Richardson Jr. taps the inside wall. Busch leads Sadler, Smith and Stenhouse.

    Restart lap 82 Busch gets a good restart as Sadler is clear for second with Stenhouse third

    Lap 83 Smith and Allgaier side-by-side for fourth

    Lap 84 Smith passes Allgaier and Stenhouse to move up to third; Allgaier passes Stenhouse for fourth

    La 85 Hornish Jr. passes Stenhouse for fifth; Gaughan passes Stenhouse for sixth

    Lap 86 Smith and Sadler side-by-side for second; Smith completes the pass off of turn four; Hornish Jr. passes Allgaier

    Lap 87 Busch leads Smith, Sadler, Hornish Jr., Allgaier, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Whitt, Scott and Sweet

    Lap 89 Patrick and Sweet side-by-side for 10th; Patrick completes the pass; Hornish Jr. passes Sadler for third

    Lap 90 Busch lead Smith, Hornish, Sadler, Gaughan

    Lap 93 Smith grabs the lead

    Caution lap 94 richardson spins…..leaders pit with a variety of strategies……Sadler has to come back in due to missing lugnuts. Danica Patrick stays out to take over the lead

    Restart lap 99 as three-wide into turn 1, Hornish Jr. grabs the lead while Smith and Busch are side-by-side for second with Patrick back to fourth.

    96 laps to go Hornish leads Smith, Dillon, Busch, Allgaier, Stenhouse, Sweet, Blaney, Gaughan and Scott

    95 to go Dillon passes both Smith and Hornish to take the lead. Hornish second, Smith third.

    94 to go Dillon leads Hornish, Smith, Stenhouse, Blaney, Busch, Gaughan, Allgaier, Sweet and Whitt

    92 to go Smith passes Hornish for second; Sadler up to 10th past Whitt

    91 to go Dillon leads Smith, Stenhouse, Hornish, Blaney, Gaughan, Busch, Sadler, Sweet and Whitt

    82 to go Dillon leads Stenhouse, Smith, Gaughan, Blaney, Sadler, Hornish, Sweet, Busch and Coulter

    79 to go Sadler passes Blaney for fifth

    69 to go Dillon leads Stenhouse, Smith, Sadler, Gaughan, Blaney, Sweet, Busch, Coulter and Whitt

    59 to go Dillon leads Smith, Stenhouse, Sadler, Gaughan, Blaney, Sweet, Busch, Coulter and Whitt

    58 to go Sadler passes Stenhouse for third

    55 to go Gaughan passes Stenhouse for fourth

    54 to go Smith pits from second

    53 to go Blaney and Busch pit

    52 to go Dillon leads Sadler, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Sweet, Coulter…..Sadler and Dillon pit, handing the lead over to Stenhouse.

    51 to go Stenhouse pits, handing the lead to Swindell

    49 to go Swindell pits, handing the lead to Kenny Wallace; Logano pits;

    48 to go Wallace pits, handing the lead to Dillon. Dillon leads over Smith and Sadler

    41 to go Dillon leads Smith, Sadler, Hornish, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Blaney, Sweet, Busch and Scott. 15 cars on the lead lap.

    39 to go Gaughan and Stenhouse Jr. pass Hornish

    36 to go Sweet passes Blaney

    27 to go Caution for debris. Patrick gets the lucky dog…….leaders head down pit road. Dillon leads Smith, Sadler, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Blaney, Whitt, Scott, Busch and Hornish off pit road. Swindell stayed out to take over the lead. Stenhouse leads Sadler by 19 points, Dillon by 21 points.

    Restart 22 to go four-wide for the lead with Sadler, Dillon, Smith and Swindell. Smith grabs the lead off of turn two followed by Sadler and Dillon.

    21 to go Sadler and Dillon side-by-side for second; Dillon clears Sadler off of turn two. Stenhouse and Busch side-by-side for fourth. Sadler clears Busch off of turn four.

    20 to go caution for Johanna Long hitting the inside backstretch wall due to contact from Logano

    Restart 15 laps to go as Smith grabs the lead ahead of Sadler while Busch and Dillon battle for third.

    14 to go Smith leads as Sadler and Busch are side-by-side for second; Busch grabs the spot

    13 to go Smith leads Busch, then Sadler. Hornish and Gaughan side-by-side for fourth…..Hornish gets loose, up towards Dillon, Dillon pushes up into Stenhouse and Stenhouse barely stays off the outside wall

    11 to go Smith leads Busch, Sadler, Gaughan, Hornish, Dillon, Stenhouse, Whitt, Scott, Blaney

    10 to go Gaughan and Hornish pass Sadler

    8 to go Smith leads Busch, Gaughan, Hornish, Sadler, Dillon, Stenhouse, Scott, Blaney and Whitt.

    7 to go Sadler passes Dillon…..Stenhouse looked under Dillon, but backed off.

    6 to go Sadler and Dillon side-by-side for position with Scott and Stenhouse right behind.

    3 to go Stenhouse passes Sadler; Scott passes Sadler.

    2 to go Smith leads Bush, Gaughan, Hornish, Dillon, Stenhouse, Scott, Sadler, Blaney and Whitt

    FL Blaney passes Sadler for eighth

    Regan Smith wins the race ahead of Busch, Gaughan, Hornish, Dillon, Stenhouse, Scott, Blaney, Sadler and Whitt. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the champion. Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 wins the owner’s championship.

  • James Buescher crowned NCWTS champion; Cale Gale rubs Kyle Busch for win

    James Buescher crowned NCWTS champion; Cale Gale rubs Kyle Busch for win

    [media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]With a last lap pass and some fender rubbing with Kyle Busch, Cale Gale was able to become the ninth first-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series by winning the Ford Ecoboost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Meanwhile, Buescher would finish 13th to win his first ever championship, six points ahead of Timothy Peters.

    “We had a shot last year,” he said. “Put a lot of work in to it in the off-season and won it. This is the biggest thing that I have done in racing.”

    Buescher would avoid an incident with four laps to go between Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon and keep himself in the hunt all night long to take the championship.

    “It was close and Ty (Dillon) and everybody at RCR, they were giving us a run for it and I guess he crowded the 4 (Larson) and they went up into the wall,” Buescher said. “We were putting everything into this Great Clips Chevy, sliding around – about slid into the wall but managed to hold on. This truck won us four races, and now it has won us a championship.”

    Buescher added that he didn’t expect to win his first race and championship in the same season.

    “If I had known that getting in the married in the off-season, I would have done it a long time ago,” he said. “That’s another thing that makes this special. Kristy gives me all the support I need. Mr. and Mrs. Turner gave me everything that I needed.”

    It also marks the first championship for Turner Motorsports.

    Dillon and Larson would make contact as Larson dived into turn four underneath Dillon while Dillon slid down slightly, resulting in the contact with both drivers hitting the wall.

    “I hate it had to come down to getting into the wall like that, feel bad for my guys,” he said. “They worked hard this year. But what a year! We laid it all on the line. Not a lot of rookies get to have a shot like this to win a championship in their first year.”

    The 2012 Rookie of the Year finishes the season fourth in points, 24 points behind Buescher. At the time of the wreck, Dillon had closed the gap between himself and Buescher to a single point.

    “We tried to hit the home run in the bottom of the ninth,” Dillon said.

    Dillon would be credited with a 25th place finish.

    “It’s tough I got a point contender there, I was trying to go for a race there,” Larson said. “I had position going into the corner, may had been on the apron a bit. I may be at fault there – I don’t know. It’s just racing – it sucks I took out Ty there, but like I said, it’s just racing.”

    Larson would later apologize on twitter.

    Watched the replay of the wreck. Feel REALLY bad for @tydillon. I definitely would never wreck someone on purpose. I just drove over my head

    — Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) November 17, 2012

     

    Also would never do that to help a teammate out. Can’t really express how bad I feel about it all.

    — Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) November 17, 2012

    Ryan Blaney was also collected in the wreck, making hard contact with the outside wall after being tagged by Dillon.

    “I’m alright,” he said. “Just knocked the wind out of me there.  It’s one of the worst hits when you clipped like that. It wasn’t a bad night, just struggled with speed all night. Was hoping to finish well there.”

    That wreck set-up a late race green-white-checkered. Busch would restart as the lead while Gale would make a three-wide pass past both Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter. Gale would then catch Busch on the final lap, getting alongside him down the backstretch.

    [media-credit name=”John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]As they came to the checkered flag, Gale would crowd Busch, finishing 0.014 seconds ahead. Gale becomes the 16th different winner this year in the Truck Series.

    “I can tell you right now – coming off of four, that’s not my driving style,” Gale said. “It was my first chance to taste NASCAR victory, I had the chance, Kyle Busch was to my outside – I don’t know what’s ahead and I went for it. I’m just a hard racer from Mobile, Alabama.”

    Kyle Busch finished second, finishing the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season with no wins. Busch would say that the last lap “just didn’t matter” and would reveal that Dollar General will not be back with Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) in 2013.

    “Just gotta thank Dollar General and Toyota and everybody that supports this program and everything we do,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re sponsorless for next year, we’re losing these guys – but tough year, just the way things have always gone.”

    Joey Coulter would finish third in his last race for Richard Childress Racing to finish third in points, 19 behind Buescher. Coulter will be joining KBM in 2013.

    “It’s awesome,” he said. “I can’t say enough about these guys. It’s been an unbelievable two years and tonight as no exception. We worked hard all night. Harold made a good call at the end with those two tires –It wasn’t fun to drive but I just held on.”

    Coulter added that he owes everything to RCR as they put him on the map.

    “Just forward to making them proud, even though it’s on another team as they gave me the shot,” Coulter added.

    Turner Motorsports teammates Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludo rounded out the top five.

    Sauter finished sixth, followed by Parker Kligerman, Timothy Peters, Justin Lofton and Ross Chastain. Peters would get second in points, six behind Buescher.

    “So close, but it has been an awesome year,” he said. “Can’t thank everybody enough at Red Horse Racing. Those guys have worked a lot in the shop. Tonight wasn’t pretty, but it just shows how much our team preservers. We have a lot of momentum going into 2013…..”

  • Lap by Lap: Ford Ecoboost 200 won by Cale Gale; Buescher crowned champion

    Lap by Lap: Ford Ecoboost 200 won by Cale Gale; Buescher crowned champion

    With a last lap pass and some fender rubbing with Kyle Busch, Cale Gale was able to become the ninth first-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Meanwhile, Buescher would finish 13th to win his first ever championship.

     

    Green flag as Parker Kligerman grabs the early lead into turn one ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ty Dillon

    Lap 2 Kligerman leads Piquet Jr., Busch, Dillon, Larson, Gale, Crafton, Sauter, Paludo and Hornaday

    Lap 3 Piquet Jr. and Busch side-by-side for second, Piquet holds Busch off

    Lap 5 Larson passes Dillon for fourth

    Lap 6 Piquet Jr. takes the lead from Kligerman……Busch third, followed by Dillon, Larson, Crafton, Gale, Sauter, Paludo and Hornaday

    Lap 14 Piquet Jr. leads Busch, Kligerman, Larson, Dillon, Crafton, Gale, Sauter, Paludo and Blaney

    Lap 21 Piquet Jr. leads Busch, Kligerman, Larson, Crafton, Gale, Dillon, Sauter, Paludo and Blaney

    Lap 26 Larson passes Kligerman for third

    Lap 35 Caution for debris…pit stops…..Piquet leads Busch, Larson, Kligerman. Buescher leads Dillon by seven points as they run currently. Buescher came in leading by 12 over Dillon

    Restart Lap 41 as Busch pulls ahead of the field with Piquet Jr. and Kligerman side-by-side for second.

    Lap 43 Busch leads Kligerman, Piquet Jr., Larson, Crafton, Gale, Dillon, Buescher, Sauter and Coulter. Peters 14th

    Lap 44 Bryan Silas gets into the wall.

    Lap 45 Caution for Silas as he slows. As they run, Buescher leads Dillon by 10, leads Peters by 16

    Restart lap 49

    Lap 50 Larson grabs the lead from Busch

    Lap 58 Larson leads Piquet, Busch, Kligerman, Crafton, Dillon, Sauter, Gale, Buescher and Blaney

    Lap 59 Coulter passes Blaney for 10th

    Lap 67 Larson passes Piquet, Busch, Kligerman, Crafton, Dillon, Sauter, Gale, Buescher and Coulter.

    55 to go Busch passes Piquet for second

    49 to go Gale passes Sauter for seventh

    48 to go Dillon pits, giving up the sixth position…..Larson pits, giving up the lead to Busch…….Blaney pits

    47 to go Busch pits, handing the lead over to Piquet…….Paludo pits.

    46 to go Peters, Buescher and Piquet pit

    45 to go Coulter and Sauter pit as Bodine leads. Leftler, too quick exciting so will need to serve a penalty

    44 to go Agnew and Bodine pit

    42 to go Larson back to the lead

    37 to go Larson leads Busch, Piquet, Kligerman, Crafton, Dillon, Gale, Sauter, Coulter and Peters. Points leader Buescher is 12th

    32 to go Sauter passes Gale

    Caution 30 to go Gresham gets into the wall….pit stops. Sauter leads Larson…..Dillon sits five points behind Buesher.

    Restart 26 laps to go as Sauter takes the lead with Busch second, while its four-wide behind them. Busch grabs the lead off of turn four.

    25 to go Busch leads Crafton while Larson and Sauter battle for third

    24 to go Dillon makes a three-wide move, looking to pass Sauter for third……Larson grabs third off of turn four, ahead of Sauter and Dillon

    23 to go Crafton is all over Busch’s back bumper

    22 to go Busch, Crafton, Larson, Sauter, Piquet, Kligerman, Dillon, Coulter, Gale, Blaney, Peters, Buescher

    21 to go Gale passes Coulter while Dillon passes Piquet and Kligerman

    19 to go Busch leads Crafton, Larson, Sauter, Kligerman, Dillon, Piquet

    14 to go Busch leads Crafton, Larson, Sauter, Kligerman, Dillon, Piquet, Coulter, Gale, Blaney, Buescher, Peters

    12 to go Crafton and Busch side-by-side for the lead through turns three and four. Busch holds him back off of turn four

    Caution 10 to go Gresham gets into the wall after blowing a right front tire. Buescher leads Dillon by seven……….Peters pits, thinking he has a vibration. Blaney pits for tires. Paludo pits.

    Restart 5 laps to go. Busch grabs the early lead as Crafton and Sauter fight for second. Sauter and Dillon pass Crafton for position. Dillon behind Buescher by 2.

    4 to go Dillon passes Sauter for second, now behind Buescher by one point.

    3 to go Larson gets by both Dillon Sauter and Buescher for position……Larson dives down to get under Dillon – Dillon goes down to block, both drivers wreck, collecting Blaney. Buescher and Peters escape the wreck.

    Buescher pits to check if tires are alright…….Crafton slid back just before wreck, pits to make sure fenders are alright….Busch leads Gale, Sauter, Coulter, Paludo, Kligerman, Bodine, Peters, Chastain, Lofton, Crafton, Buescher, Piquet Jr.

    First attempt at a green white checkered…..Busch gets a three-wide as Coulter, Sauter and Gale go three-wide through the middle of turns one and two……Busch leads as Gale and Coulter battle for second.

    White flag as Busch leads Gale and Coulter…..Gale and Busch side-by-side down the backstretch……Gale and Busch make contact across the finish line with Gale winning it, 14-one thousandths of a second over Busch. James Buescher wins the championship. Ninth first time winner this year, 16 different winners this year.

  • Logano captures the pole at Homestead-Miami; Keselowski starts third, Johnson10th

    Logano captures the pole at Homestead-Miami; Keselowski starts third, Johnson10th

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Joey Logano captured the pole for Sundays NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a lap of 176.056 MPH, 30.672 seconds.

    “These guys have given me a really good RedBeacon.com Toyota here. We were good in practice and they made the right adjustments for us to make sure it was good when the sun went down. They did their part and I did my part, and it came out perfect. I appreciate it. My last run with them, so it’s awesome to get a pole for them again.” Logano said.

    Marcos Ambrose qualified second, series points leader Brad Keselowski third, Carl Edwards fourth and Aric Almirola qualified fifth.

    Both championship contenders qualified in the top-10. Keselowski third and Jimmie Johnson qualified 10th.

    Keselowski expected Johnson to qualify better than he did.

    “I totally expected him to out-qualify us, to be quite honest. I was going to be fine with that. At least we were prepared for the worst and that’s not what happened so I guess we’re okay.” Keselowski said.

    With a 20 point advantage heading into Sunday, Keselowski is feeling the pressure to win his first championship and the first for team owner Roger Penske.

    “There’s always pressure. There was pressure all year long. I don’t feel drastically more than what I have. But the pressure is what makes it worth it. That’s part of what makes it special, what makes it mean something, so I’m not going to try to run from it. But I can deal with it very well.”

    Johnson will be looking to score his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship on Sunday and wanted to keep the pressure on Keselowski by capturing the pole.

    “The best pressure I could put on him would be winning the pole. But we didn’t do that. Hopefully we’ll stay there in the top 10, which is good for us. We’ll get a good pit stall on pit road and go into race trim tomorrow and make sure we’ve got our race car right.”

  • Harvick wins chaotic finish at Phoenix; Keselowski takes over series points lead

    Harvick wins chaotic finish at Phoenix; Keselowski takes over series points lead

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Wow! That is all I have to say! What a chaotic finish to the end of the AdvoCare 500! It was so insane, I can’t even speak! It was simply heart-pounding what happened. Lets first begin with the recap of the race.

    Martin Truex Jr. began complaining of his engine starting to lay down by the second lap. By Lap 10, Truex Jr. said that “something broke in the top end and just started eating itself up, so we’re done for the day. “It’s just a shame. We’ve had such a good race car all weekend long and really felt like we were going to have a shot at maybe challenging for the win today.”

    The race was dominated for most of the event by the No.18 of Kyle Busch. Busch won the pole on Friday evening and led all three practice sessions on Saturday.

    The tide turned when the No.48 of Jimmie Johnson blew a right-front tire off turn 4 and slammed the outside wall. The crowd cheered as the No.48 team was unable to fix the damage on pit road and spent over 30 laps behind the wall. The No.48 finished in 33rd and Brad Keselowski now has a 20 point lead coming into Homestead after finishing in sixth place.

    Near the end of the race, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon tangled coming out of turn 2. Bowyer put Gordon into the wall. A very unhappy Gordon attempted to retaliate, but cut a tire and slammed the wall a second time. Gordon waited for Bowyer to come back around the track to retaliate and Gordon was successful.  But the retaliation also took out Joey Logano and Aric Almirola in the process.

    Gordon drove back to the hauler where a huge fight broke out between the crews and Gordon.  Bowyer parked his destroyed No.15 in the pit lane before sprinting to the No.24 hauler, but was held back by NASCAR officials and Gordon’s crew. Logano later said on Twitter after the race, “When I was young, I thought Jeff Gordon was the best driver. Now, I’ve lost a lot of respect for him.”

    This takes Bowyer out of the championship, but he can’t say that he didn’t see this coming. Bowyer and Gordon have been getting together all season and enough was enough. I think Gordon was justified to take out Bowyer, but he could have done it in a way to not take out other drivers.

    Jeff Burton spun out Danica Patrick coming to the white flag and she backed it into the turn 3 wall. She was able to re-fire the engine and keep going, but was dropping oil all over the race track.

    Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag as Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, and Paul Menard all crashed across the finish line. Harvick stated afterwards that, “There was more oil than asphalt and it was very visible.” Richard Childress, who was sitting next to Harvick said, “It was dangerous.” Harvick also chimed in that the people officiating the race, “Need to go look themselves in the mirror and check if they are really doing a good job.”

    Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Newman rounded out the top-5. Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, and Mark Martin rounded out the top-10.

    Dustin Long from SI was able to catch up with Jeff Gordon. When asked if he was concerned about penalties Gordon responded, “They have to do what they got to do.”

    Gordon needed to stand up for himself. I just think that he could have retaliated in a better fashion. It will be interesting to see if this carries on to Homestead. It gave me a headache just trying to process everything that happened!

    Unofficial Race Results
    AdvoCare 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=35
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 19 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 47
    2 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 43
    3 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 43
    4 4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 40
    5 12 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 40
    6 14 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 39
    7 20 16 Greg Biffle Ford 37
    8 6 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 36
    9 7 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 35
    10 10 55 Mark Martin Toyota 35
    11 13 99 Carl Edwards Ford 33
    12 21 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 32
    13 33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 31
    14 22 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 30
    15 30 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 29
    16 5 43 Aric Almirola Ford 28
    17 37 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 0
    18 17 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 26
    19 39 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 26
    20 9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 24
    21 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 23
    22 25 13 Casey Mears Ford 22
    23 18 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 21
    24 8 51 Regan Smith Chevrolet 20
    25 27 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 19
    26 42 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 18
    27 15 20 Joey Logano Toyota 17
    28 16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 16
    29 41 32 Timmy Hill Ford 15
    30 11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 14
    31 26 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    32 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 12
    33 29 34 David Ragan Ford 11
    34 32 30 David Stremme Toyota 10
    35 35 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 9
    36 31 38 David Gilliland Ford 8
    37 38 26 Josh Wise * Ford 7
    38 28 98 Michael McDowell Ford 6
    39 43 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    40 34 144 David Reutimann Ford 4
    41 36 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    42 40 191 Jason Leffler Toyota 0
    43 2 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 1
  • Logano Destroys Competition In Phoenix; Stenhouse All But Clinches NNS Championship

    Logano Destroys Competition In Phoenix; Stenhouse All But Clinches NNS Championship

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Joey Logano thoroughly dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Great Clips 200 from start to finish at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday. Logano led for 169 of the 204 laps despite a green-white-checkered finish at the end. Brian Vickers was beginning to reel in his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate on the final run, but a nasty accident in turn-3 involving Elliott Sadler forced NASCAR to throw the red flag.

    Sadler, who came into this race tied for the championship with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., had a pretty eventful day.  Sadler wrecked during qualifying and was forced to start in the rear. He worked his way up to the top-5, but got loose on the restart and dropped 15 positions on the track. Sadler then started a nasty accident in turn-1 after getting loose and hitting the No.88 of Cole Whitt, and was hit head-on by the No.33 of Brendan Gaughan.

    Sadler is now down twenty points coming into Homestead and I’m sure Indianapolis is also on his mind at the moment. What if Indianapolis never happened? Sadler might still be in the hunt.

    “That makes us feel good, but we’ve given up 20 points in one race, so it’s not over till it’s over. We’ve still got some work to do, but it feels pretty good.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

    Vickers came in second, but was no challenge to Logano on the green-white-checkered finish. Vickers clearly did not have a short-run car and spent the final laps trying to hold back Stenhouse Jr. Kyle Busch finished fourth despite making contact with Sam Hornish Jr. late in the race. Kasey Kahne finished fifth.

    Austin Dillon, Michael Annett, Brian Scott, Brad Keselowski, and Danica Patrick rounded out the top-10. This is Patrick’s first career Top 10 here in her home state. She resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

    This race lacked a lot of action out front, but it was a good race for the fans and a decent amount of fans. That is great news for tomorrow’s Sprint Cup event. Thank you and have fun everyone! We will see you tomorrow.

    Unofficial Results
    2012 Unofficial Race Results : Great Clips 200

    Great Clips 200 | November 10, 2012 | Race 32 of 33

    FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
    1 1 18 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop / Epic Mickey2 0 204 Running
    2 5 20 Brian Vickers Toyota Dollar General 0 204 Running
    3 8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Valvoline NextGen 42/1 204 Running
    4 2 54 Kyle Busch Toyota Monster Energy 0 204 Running
    5 7 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Great Clips 0 204 Running
    6 3 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet AdvoCare 38/0 204 Running
    7 17 43 Michael Annett Ford Pilot Flying J 37/0 204 Running
    8 10 11 Brian Scott Toyota Dollar General 36/0 204 Running
    9 6 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge Discount Tire 0 204 Running
    10 14 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 34/0 204 Running
    11 12 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet Brandt 33/0 204 Running
    12 9 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FOE 0 204 Running
    13 15 19 Mike Bliss Toyota Bandit Chippers / Embassy Suites 31/0 204 Running
    14 4 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Alliance Truck Parts 30/0 204 Running
    15 22 199 Alex Bowman Toyota Port of Tucson / Levin Financial 29/0 204 Running
    16 20 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves 28/0 204 Running
    17 27 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota MacDonald Motorsports 27/0 204 Running
    18 36 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet Viva Auto Group 26/0 204 Running
    19 34 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet DSTP Motorsports 25/0 204 Running
    20 18 14 Eric McClure Toyota Hefty / Reynolds Wrap / Embassy Suites 24/0 204 Running
    21 23 108 Paulie Harraka Ford MC10 0 204 Running
    22 16 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet OneMain Financial 22/0 204 Running
    23 19 10 Jeff Green Toyota G-Oil / Embassy Suites 21/0 201 Running
    24 33 73 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Maxelence MVP / Dobson Inn 20/0 200 Running
    25 39 44 John Blankenship Chevrolet Coal Save the Country 0 200 Running
    26 11 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet South Point Hotel & Casino 0 199 Running
    27 42 70 Nur Ali Chevrolet Tweaker Energy Shot 17/0 199 Running
    28 38 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet iWorld 16/0 199 Running
    29 13 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet Takagi 15/0 198 Running
    30 37 39 Dexter Stacey Ford Maddies Place 14/0 197 Running
    31 41 124 Derek White Toyota OCR Gaz Bar 0 188 Running
    32 40 41 Noel Dowler Ford Prairie Tech / Apollo 12/0 182 Running
    33 21 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Phoenix Group Metals / stjude.org 11/0 86 Running
    34 26 86 Kevin Lepage Ford Qello / Kenger Metals 10/0 39 Running
    35 32 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Hyland’s / Great Wide Transport 9/0 20 Out of Race
    36 43 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet Koma Unwind 8/0 18 Running
    37 25 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet The Motorsports Group 7/0 18 Running
    38 28 47 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 0 17 Running
    39 24 100 Blake Koch Toyota Chasco 5/0 17 Running
    40 29 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 0 15 Out of Race
    41 35 15 Timmy Hill Ford RWR / Lilly Trucking 0 12 Running
    42 30 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 2/0 8 Running
    43 31 191 Tony Raines Toyota Tri-Star Motorsports / Embassy Suites 0 5 Running